Getting someone to click a search ad is one thing; getting them to convert into a sale or lead is another. The second session I attended on Day Two of Search Engine Strategies San Jose was “Landing Page Testing and Tuning“. Featuring a solo presentation by Tim Ash, President of SiteTuners.
Sage Lewis, President of SageRock provided a quick introduction [apparently Tim has a lot of groupies ;-)] and then it was off to the presentation.
Tim Ash’s Presentation on Landing Page Testing and Tuning
[Author’s Note: This review does to little justice to an excellent presentation. Tim used a significant number of really cool screenshots and visual examples to illustrate points as well as actively engaging the audience. I highly suggest attending his session at a future conference if landing page optimization is a priority.]
Tim’s two main goals of the presentation:
- Why you should care [MONEY! That was easy]
- Review the 7 deadly sins of landing page design
Landing pages are a weak link in PPC and marketers should invest more money in landing page optimization. Fixing landing pages lowers costs and creates efficiency [lower your cost per acquisition]
Question: Who should design your site [and landing pages]?
Answer: Website Visitors – they are the real conversion experts. Listen to your website visitors.
During the Q&A one of the first questions was “how to do this?” Tim suggested that the data marketers collect from testing landing page adjustments is the most effective way to receive customer feedback
Tim showed examples of landing page optimization success stories.
First example: subtle changes increased conversions by 40% and revenue by $3,285,000.
Four other examples provided further evidence that landing page optimization significantly increased conversion rates and revenue for the applicable organizations (one success story increased revenue by $48 million dollars).
7 deadly sins of landing page design
- An unclear call-to-action [identify what your visitor is suppose to do!]
- Too many choices
- Asking for too much information [don’t waste your visitors’ time]
- Too much text [audience laughs at the extreme examples but Tim’s comment is sound, “it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye; go back and review your landing pages as well“] – less is more
- Not keeping your promises [are you matching the visitors’ intent?]
- Visual distractions [Tim: “do not inflict your creativity on your employer” – hope I got that quote 100% correct :-)]
- Lack of trust [Tim: “people need to know what you stand for” ilustrate why visitors should trust your products or services]
Multiple Sins Case Study – Credo Mobile
Tim wrapped up the presentation with a case study of an existing client.
The company came to Site Tuners with a landing page for an email campaign. While at first glance, the landing page seemed sufficient, it actually contained multiple landing page sins.
The core issues:
- An unclear call-to-action [debatable at first but explained shortly thereafter]
- Too much text
- Lack of trust
A heatmap showed that no one was looking at their primary call-to-action [a seemingly prominent green button in the center of the page!]
After redesign [into what some may consider a relatively boring, simple design] conversion rates increased by 84%.
Derek Edmond is a Managing Partner at KoMarketing Associates, providing B2B PPC, SEO and Social Media services to a wide range of companies and organizations across the US.</em
